The Girl
by PaintMeNeon
Summary: Pretty brown eyes. That's what kept her going. Kept her from running out into the maze, from letting the grievers get her. Life in the glade was a struggle, especially for the only girl there.
1. Greenie

**Hey! So I'm just trying this out, I don't know how this going to go, but I thought I'd give it a whirl. Please let me know what you think! I don't own anything that is Maze Runner, only my lovely character Elizabeth. Just so you guys know she was named after Elizabeth Cady Stanton.**

Light. Bright. Radiant. Unforgiving. That is the first thing I remember from the Glade, not the ride up, actually the ride up I spent slumped on the floor of the lift, unconscious. I'd just laid there, as someone jumped down into the lift, crouching, starring, like they'd never seen a girl in their life. At the time I hadn't known, those boys hadn't seen a girl, ever. I'd barely looked up when he'd stuck his hand out, thousands of questions swirled around in my mind. What happened? What was I doing here? Why was I here? Why could I remember, without really remembering? Why could I only remember my name? I barely comprehended what was happening around me, even when the boy grasped my hand and pulled me to my feet. After that I don't really know what happened, I was out of the box standing amongst a large group of boys. That's when the panic set in. My breaths came in short gasps, and I kept looking around, clutching my chest while my head whipped around wildly looking for an exit.

As I panicked, I noticed that we stood in an open field, enclosed with four large stone walls. I needed an exit. I kept looking around until I found an opening in the walls. That was my exit. Without a second thought, I ran. And I ran. I could hear the protests behind me, but chose to ignore them. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground, with arms wrapped around my waist stopping me from going anywhere else. The sound of my heart beat is all I can hear. Struggling, I grasped handfuls of grass trying to pull myself out from under the boy who'd knocked me down. I'd barely had a chance to attempt my escape before someone was grabbing my arms lifting me off the ground. Wide eyed, I watched the boy holding me in place say things, not hearing any of it. In a rush, everything came back at once, sound, feelings, pain.

"Greenie! Are you listening?!" His voice came out harsh and loud. Blinking innocently, I stared up at the dark skinned boy, doe eyed and confused. Who was greenie? "Greenie?" He seemed confused by my silence. From the corner of my eye, I could tell all the boys that had been previously standing by that box were now circling around us.

The dark skinned boy kept a grip on my arm, I'm assuming in case I decided to make a run for it. "Everybody get back to work!" Some grumbling could be heard from some of the boys as they dispersed. After that, the boy holding my arm began dragging me across the open field, towards a rudimentary concrete cube. I watched him open the door, before shoving me in. "You're staying in here until you won't run anymore." With that he slammed the door shut, locking it, and walked away. I sat on the hard ground, bringing my knees up to my chest confused and hurt that he would put me in this concrete cube.

Tears pricked at my eyes the longer I sat in, what I had come to the conclusion must be a jail. It must have been a few hours, before someone came around. Dark brown eyes peered down at me through the small rectangular window in the door. Wiping the tears out of my eyes, I looked at him, sniffling, hoping he would let me out of this grungy cell.

"If I let you out, will you promise me not to bloody run off again?" I simply nodded, standing, before stepping closer to the door, listening to the lock jiggle. He swung the door open, motioning for me to step out. Timidly, I walked out and looked at the boy who let me out. It wasn't the same boy as earlier. This one was tall, lean, but still muscular, with dirty blonde hair he couldn't have been older than sixteen. A blush crept up my neck, when I realized I had been staring at him for too long. I averted my eyes, tucking a stray strand of hair that had fallen in my face, behind my ear. A few seconds we'd fallen into step, I starred at the ground, holding my stomach, my arms being the only things keeping me from breaking down. We walked for some time, not once did I look up, I could feel blondie's eyes on me, watching my every move, and it didn't bother me as it should.

"You know, you're not like any of the other greenie's we've had so far." Surprised, I looked up smiling slightly. "The others are normally asking millions of questions, crying, or have klunked their pants by this point." Klunked? What the heck did that mean? I gave him a questioning look, only to receive a cute smirk and raised eyebrows. Embarrassed, I looked at the ground again. "Anyway, I'm Newt." He stuck his hand out for me to grasp. I looked at the sheer size of it surprised at how large it was. Shyly I reached out and clasped it giving a slight shake. My small hand was barely half the size of his.

"Isn't newt a lizard?" I watched blondie do a double take, as if he hadn't quite heard what I'd said.

"You don't say a bloody thing for hours and that's what you choose to say?" He shook his head with a smile of disbelief resting on his face. A chuckle escaped his lips; in turn a mousy laugh left my throat, surprising Newt and myself. Slowly, I reached up softly touching my lips, smiling to myself.

With that, Newt smiled and explained what the glade was, the rules of the glade, what jobs there was, and that I'd have to go through all the jobs to figure out which I would be best suited for. He'd explained how the slicers take care of the livestock and slaughter them for food and that the sloppers were the leftovers who didn't fit in anywhere. Builders built and upgraded the building like the homestead, while the bricknicks dealt with the repairs. The med-jacks were the doctors and the track-hoes worked in the gardens, while the cooks prepared the meals. Then there were the baggers who were the guards and also dealt with the dead bodies. Finally, there were the runners, the ones who went out in the maze and mapped it out. Newt had explained to me that they were the only ones allowed in the maze, remember that opening in the wall that I'd made a dash for earlier; well that was the entrance to the maze. Not even knowing I had almost broken one of the three rules of the glade. The first rule had been everyone does their part, no slacking. After that you never hurt another glader, which I didn't think would be much of a problem for me comparing my size to the size of the boys in the glade and last never go outside of the maze, unless you were a runner. I knew I wouldn't be a slicer; the thought of killing an animal repulsed me. And the more I thought on in the more I knew I wouldn't fit in with most of the jobs he'd listed, I wasn't exactly very strong so builders and bricknicks were out of the question, same with bagger. From what I could remember I didn't know anything about cooking so cooks was most likely out of the question.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't realized Newt was trying to get my attention, until I felt him grab my shoulder. Startled, I looked up at the blond boy. "Do you think you can go find Alby?" The confusion was evident on my face, "He's the guy from earlier, you know, the one who put you in the slammer earlier?" Nodding, I looked around for Alby, finally spotting him next to the homestead talking with another dark skinned boy. I looked up at Newt and smiled slightly before walking of giving him a small wave. As I walked over to where Alby was standing I finally really took a look around me, and noticed most boys kept stealing glances at me. It must be hard to grasp a girl in the glade when so far they'd only had boys come up in the box.

Once I'd found Alby, he'd shown me to a room in the homestead that would be mine, and mine alone. Alby had explained to me that none of the boys would bother me, and that tomorrow morning I'd have to report to Winston, the keeper of the slicers, to try out for my first job in the glade. With that, Alby left me to my own devices until supper time. I waited for him to leave before looking around my new room. It was small, with a bed against the far wall, with a small dresser across from it, by the door. There was a window on the right wall, looking out on the glade. Calmly, I made my way over to the window and looked around. The first thing I noticed was that everyone was busy at work; I could see Newt in the gardens crouched down, working with another blond boy. I looked around a bit more and noticed the dark skinned boy Alby had been talking to earlier working away in the kitchen. Out in the middle of the field, next to the box, Alby stood talking with a few other boys whom I hadn't seen before, not that I would really remember any of them. I looked around some more before my eyes fell on Newt once more. A soft smile spread across my lips as I watched him smile and laugh with the other boy. There was something about him, it felt like I had met him before, but I couldn't quite place it.

It had been bothering me all day, the fact that I could remember, but couldn't exactly remember. I could remember how to tie my hair in a braid but couldn't remember who had taught me, things like that. I remembered things, but couldn't remember how I knew them, and it frustrated me to no end. Why was I here? Why couldn't I remember who I was, and what I looked like? Why was I the only girl in a group of boys? I'd been so preoccupied with my thoughts that I hadn't noticed everyone was making their way to the dinner hall to eat.

Knock. Knock.

Not bothering to look over, I stared blankly out at the field, watching the maze doors close surprised that it was even possible for them to close.

"Oi! Greenie! Are you coming for dinner?" My head snapped to the side, to see Newt standing in the doorway of my room. The corner of my lips quirked up when I saw him, and I made my way over to him indicating that I would follow him. We didn't say a word to one another as we made our way to the line for food. By now most boys had already grabbed their supper, so the wait wasn't long but that meant they were all sitting, starring and whispering as I walked by. Quietly, I followed Newt to a table where Alby was already seated along with another boy. He was an Asian boy with short black hair with rather large arms, he was quite intimidating. Newt sat by the Asian boy, while I took a seat next to Alby. I looked over at him and gave him a small smile.

"So this is the Greenie everyone's been yammering about?" Looking down at my food, I blushed as he spoke about me. "She's pretty." My eyes grew wide at the unexpected comment from the boy I knew nothing about. I let my hair fall around my face creating a barrier between myself and the world around me. I heard a grunt and Newt telling someone to stop it. "I'm Minho. So what's your name Greenbean?" No one had asked me that, which was surprising. I looked up, tucking my hair behind my ears.

"My name is Elizabeth." My voice barely reached my own ears, so it astounded me that the boys had even heard it.

"So she speaks!" Alby's voice came from my left, sounding flabbergasted.

"Ezzie it is!" Startled, I looked up at Minho. Was that supposed to be my name shortened? Minho winked at me, and went back to eating his stew. By that point I must have been dark red from all the blushing. I took a bite of stew trying to ignore the looks I was getting from the three boys sitting around me. After a few minutes, the boys went back to talking amongst themselves, looking at me every once in a while trying to get me to partake in the conversation.

After Alby left, another boy came and sat down beside me, this one was just as tall as Alby with dark black hair, and green eyes, but what was most noticeable was his nose, it looked like a potato sat in the middle of his face. Discreetly I tried to scoot myself further away from him, uncomfortable with the close proximity. Newt glared at the boy sitting next to me, "What do you want?"

"Just came to get a close up of the greenie." He sneered. I locked eyes with Newt worried. Newt gave me slight nod, saying it was alright, that the new arrival meant no harm.

"Well shank you got what you wanted, get lost." Shank? What did that mean? I looked at Minho questionably. "What does that mean?" My voice stopped the glaring contest happening between the boys. Newt gave me sweet smile, while Minho smirked; I looked between the two and gave them a nervous smile. I averted my eyes looking back down at my bowl to see it was still mostly full; it didn't surprise me to see I'd barely eaten my supper.

The new boy scoffed and explained, "It's glader slang, don't worry about it, you'll learn." I simply nodded not really understanding. Feeling uncomfortable under their gaze, I stood with my food, walking to the spot where the others had left their empty dishes, before walking off.

Walking around I looked up at the sky watching it darken. It didn't look like it was real, almost as if someone had made a hologram of the sky. I had been so preoccupied with the fake sky that when trees came into my view I was confused. Looking around, I took in my surroundings and smiled. It felt so serene, the stillness, how quiet it was. I sat down at the bottom of a tree, tucked my legs up to my chest and sighed, that's when the first tears escaped. What had I done to deserve this? Why? And then there were more tears and some sniffling. Wiping my eyes with the backs of my hands, I stood, and made my way out of the woods, noticing a light by the kitchens. The closer I got I realized that the light was a fire and it looked like most of the boys, if not all of them, were standing around the fire, chatting.

"There she is!" Minho yelled, as he made his way over to me, throwing his arm around my shoulder. He led me to the fire, where the boys were waiting. As we got closer, the boys started cheering. Flushing, I searched the crowd for Newt. When my eyes finally landed on him I flinched. Was he glaring at me? No, not at me. I looked up at Minho and realized he still had his arm around me. Grabbing his arm, I step away from him and made my way over to Newt.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked up at him, smiling slightly, "Hi."

"Hi greenie." A smile light up his face as he starred down at me. "Enjoying your party?"

"My party?"

"Of course, we have one for all the greenies." Alby walked up to us, smiling, or what I would assume was a smile for the ever sour faced Alby. Finally, Newt looked down at the drink in his hand and extended it out to me. Curious, I reached out and grabbed it bringing it to my lips, taking a gulp. I swear, I tried to swallow it, I really did, but I just couldn't. The burning sensation filled my mouth followed by the fowl taste of the bitter liquid. Turning away from the boys in a rush, I spit the liquid out, coughing loudly. My actions brought on a fit of laughter from the two older boys. I rubbed my mouth with the back of my hand, trying to get rid of the taste.

"Wha- what is that?" My voice was hoarse from the repulsive taste of the drink.

"Not sure, it's Gally's super, secret recipe." Newt shrugged, as I handed him his drink back. I watched him take a long swig of the brown liquid. He didn't even cringe; he drank it like it was nothing! Let's say I was more than impressed with him. By now Alby had walked off and it was just Newt and I.

Newt motioned for me to sit on the ground by a log. Without hesitation, I sat on the ground, quickly followed by Newt. I looked over at him, surprised at how close he was sitting, but unlike earlier with the dark haired boy at dinner, it didn't make me uncomfortable. The thought made me smile, and blush, a lot. I looked down at my hands in my lap, playing with my fingers.

"How was your first day greenie?" His accent more pronounced then it had previously been, or maybe I hadn't been paying attention, that's why I hadn't realized he had one. Shrugging, I looked over at him and tried to smile but couldn't bring myself to do so.

"Newt."

"Yeah?"

"Why are we here? What did we do to deserve this?" A tear fell from my lash, quickly wiped it away before looking over at Newt once more.

"I don't know." With a stiff nod, I pushed myself of the ground, and stood, walking away from the blond boy with the pretty brown eyes.


	2. Grievers

**Chapter one got some good feedback so far! Thank you! I don't own anything that is Maze Runner, but I do own my character Elizabeth. (: Sorry about the wait, I'm watching Grey's Anatomy as I'm writing and I get distracted every once in a while!**

 **Gms14 - Thank you! I didn't want this story to be like the others, and I'm glad it worked out! Thank you so much for the support! It's greatly appreciated!**

 **Guest – Thank you! I'm glad you liked the first chapter!**

 **Possibility – Not to worry! I cannot write short stories to save my life! It won't be a one shot. Wow! Four times? I'm glad you think it's so great! Thank you!**

Being a slicer, yeah, definitely not my thing. The moment I walked into the bloodhouse to find Winston the bile rose in my throat. How could anyone work in this place, all the blood and the killing of the animals? So for most of the day, I spent my time holding my breath and looking away when Winston chopped the chicken's heads off.

Walking to the dinner hall, I thought back on what I'd done this morning and was glad that Winston had promised me that I'd just take care of the livestock in the afternoon, sparring me the gory images of the bloodhouse. When I was finally at the front of the line, I grabbed a bowl and lifted it up for the boy standing in front of me to ladle some of the soup into my bowl. When I looked at him more closely, I noticed it was the dark skinned boy Alby had been talking to yesterday. The boy had a bright smile, "Hi there greenie, I'm Frypan." He extended his hand out to me. A nervous smile stretched across my lips as I shyly took his larger hand in mine and shook it.

"I'm Elizabeth, or… umm… Ezzie. That's what Minho calls me anyway." My voice had started out strong but in the end I was mumbling, embarrassed. Frypan smiled, and chuckled under his breath. I blushed, and grabbed my soup before walking to an empty table. Sitting by myself wasn't as bad as you'd expect, some of the boys still watched my every move, some looked suspicious while others were giving me looks that I didn't really comprehend, but it didn't bother me anymore. I ate my soup quietly until someone sat down next to me, looking up; I smiled brightly when I realized who it was.

"Hey there Greenbean." His accent rolled off his tongue as he spoke to me in a hushed voice. A smiled graced his lips, when I looked up at him and gave him a sweet smile. We sat in comfortable silence, eating our leak and potato soup.

We'd been sitting quietly, until the blond boy I'd seen Newt talk to in the gardens sat down in the seat across from us. When I looked up, he gave me a slight nod before going back to his soup. He and Newt had exchanged a few words, before falling quiet once more, until the end of lunch.

My afternoon hadn't been quite as awful as my morning. I'd spent most of my time with the cows and pigs, and the dog Bark, had followed me around all afternoon which had made me happy. Who wouldn't love that little black fur ball? It was finally time for supper but I couldn't bring myself to leave Bark. So I sat down by one of the fence poles that kept the cows in the pen, leaning against it, letting Bark lay his paws and head on my lap.

I'd been so preoccupied with Bark that I hadn't noticed the sky had already darkened and the doors were now closed, that meant Minho and the other runners were back. I grinned at the thought of the boy who'd been nice enough to call me pretty. Being the only girl had its perks, considering the fact that they had no other girl to compare me to. My stomach grumbled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten supper and had probably already missed it. I shooed Bark off me, and stood up. I patted the dog's head once before leaving the bloodhouse.

The kitchens still had some lights so I made my way over and looked in to see if Frypan was still there. "Hello?" I called out timidly, stepping into the kitchens.

"Elizabeth!" came from my left, "We missed you at supper!" The tall boy grinned as he made his way over to me holding a brown bag. "I made you a sandwich and some veggies, don't make missing supper a habit." He threw a wink my way, handing me the bag and walking off.

"Thank you!" I called after him grateful.

With a secretive smile, I made my way over to the woods so I could sit and observe the other boys during their free time. I pulled out the cheese sandwich Frypan had made and began munching on it gratefully. Once my sandwich was finished, I fished around in the brown bag to see what else Frypan had given me. Pulling out a green apple, I grinned happily taking a large bite from it. So happy with my crunchy apple, I yelped when I heard a sound to my right. I looked over and smiled when I saw it was only Minho.

"Greenbean! Where have you been?"

I gently smiled at him, "I was with Bark by the bloodhouse."

He gasped, clutching his heart mockingly, like what I had done had truly wounded him, "You were with the flea bag instead of having supper with little old me?" Bursting out laughing, I looked over at Minho, seeing him laugh with me, causing me to fall into another fit of giggles. Once the laughter died down, we fell into easy conversation about anything and everything that came to mind.

Minho was different from the other boys; he didn't look at me any differently than he did the other boys. It's refreshing. And he didn't avoid me like some of the others did. Together, we sat for maybe an hour longer before I told Minho it was time for bed. On my way back to the homestead, Alby found me to tell me I would be working with Zart and the Track-Hoes and to hand me a box that had come up with me in the lift.

Back in my room, I set the wooden box down at the end of my bed, and opened it to see what was inside. I found two black tank tops similar to the one I was already wearing, a white long sleeve cotton button up, two pairs of grey camouflage cargo pants and a sleeveless jean vest. There were a few pairs of underwear with matching bras and five pairs of socks. Other things littered the box, like a hair brush, hair ties, feminine products and other knickknacks that I may need.

The sound of the doors opening woke me. Rushed, I grabbed a clean pair of cargo pants, a clean tank top, and my white button up. I changed clothing in a hurry to get down to the kitchen for breakfast, before I had to get to work with the Track-Hoes. Before leaving my room I quickly brushed my hair. I ran down the stairs braiding my hair as I walked briskly to the lineup for food noticing I was one of the last ones to get my eggs and bacon. Oh my gosh, let me tell you Frypan's bacon it probably the best part about his cooking. Everybody likes to complain about his cooking but really his food was pretty good, but then again that could be because none of us remembered what real food tasted like.

"Good morning Frypan." I smiled cheekily at the boy as I held up my plate waiting for him to fill it up.

"Good morning Elizabeth." That's another thing I liked about Frypan, he didn't call me greenie or Greenbean like the other boys did and I was grateful. Before leaving the line, I grabbed an apple, and left to find a seat. I looked around for a bit before I noticed Alby waving me over. Smiling, I sat down across from Alby giving him a friendly nod, soon after digging into my eggs. Breakfast was definitely the best meal Frypan could cook.

We'd been sitting quietly for a few minutes, "How was your day with the slicers?"

Trying not to cringe, I gripped my fork tighter, "Uh, interesting?"

Alby chuckled and shook his head, "You'll have a better time in the gardens with Zart the fart." A giggle escaped my lips at the nickname they'd given Zart.

Finding Zart had been quite a feat considering I'd never actually met him and had no idea what he looked like. So when I found Newt in the gardens relief flooded through me. "Newt." He didn't acknowledge me, which was surprising I'd spoken loud enough for him to hear me. Bending forward, I touched his shoulder to get his attention. Newt gripped my wrist as soon as my hand touched his shoulder. Startled, I let out a small shriek.

"Oh, it's you." He let go of my wrist before standing up to face me.

"Could you point Zart out?" I mumbled, playing with my fingers worriedly.

Newt gave me a nod and turned to point the blond haired boy we'd had lunch with the previous day. "Thank you Newt." I shot him a grateful smile before going to join Zart.

Zart didn't talk much and smelt like sour milk, but he was kind so that made up for it. We spent our morning in comfortable silence, smiling at one another every once in a while. He'd shown me how to plant carrots and lettuce and by the time lunch had rolled around I was a pro at it.

"In the afternoon you'll be picking apples with Newt, alright?" Newt was mad at me, or at least that was the impression I was getting from him. Instead of voicing my thoughts, I simply nodded and went back to eating the cheese sandwich in front of me.

After lunch, I found Newt sitting in the shade by a tree. I walked up to him, smiling, sitting beside him. My arm brushed against his by accident. He just looked over at me, his face showing nothing. I couldn't stop myself, averting my eyes, "Newt. Did I do something wrong?"

Silence. It was quiet for a few minutes so I looked up, the inner turmoil was obvious. I just didn't understand why he would be upset. Tentatively, I reached over and grabbed his hand, "I'm sorry, for whatever I did. I never meant to upset you."

"I, uh, It's nothing, don't worry about it."

I didn't press him for answers; he would tell me once he was ready to tell me. We sat there holding each other's hands for a while longer, before we finally had to get to work to pick apples.

Spending the afternoon with Newt had been wonderful. There had been a lot of laughing, and smiling. People in the gardens were annoyed with us but that didn't stop us. It had been the best time I'd had so far in the Glade.

Laughing Newt threw his arm over my shoulders and pulled me into his side, "You aren't so bad for a Greenie."

Smiling, I shrugged his arm of my shoulders and playfully shoved his side, stepping away from him at the same time. We'd been walking to the kitchen for dinner, when I broke out into a run, running away from Newt who was trying to get back at me for shoving him. I'd almost made it to the kitchen when someone, whom I assumed was Newt, wrapped their arms around my waist, pulling me to their chest, effectively trapping me. I grabbed his hands attempting to get out of his grip but it didn't work. By now people had begun watching, eyebrows hitting their hairlines, but the two teenagers couldn't be bothered.

When our laughter died down, I turned around and looked up at Newt, grinning. His hands were lightly resting on my hips as we starred at one another breathless. Well that is until Minho came around and pulled us into an awkward group hug, crushing my body to Newt's making me flush.

"Awe! I just love you guys!" Giggling, I slipped out of Minho's hold, walking away from him. I looked back at Newt and Minho to see Newt scowling like a little kid while he shoved Minho away. The dark haired boy seemed to be teasing his blond friend about something or another.

The table was devoid of any boys until Newt, Minho and Zart came and sat with me. Of course Minho had to come sit beside me just so he could tease me about what he'd witnessed earlier, which earned him more than one elbow to the ribs.

Alby sat on my other side, nodding to us before tucking into his food. I looked between all the boys, these boys were my family now, if you think about it, it was true. I didn't remember my family, and neither did they. The faster I came to terms with the fact that I was stuck here, the better. They were my new family, and that thought made me smile. They were good boys.

"You'll be with the builders tomorrow." I looked up and smiled, nodding, hiding the dread that I felt. Builders that was one job I knew I would not be cut out for. What would they make me do anyways, it's not like I'm strong enough to lift three quarters of the stuff they work with. "You'll have to find Gally tomorrow. It's that guy over there." He pointed to the dark haired boy from lunch yesterday.

Supper had come to an end and I was now aimlessly walking around the glade. That's when I heard it, the whirring and clicking sounds, followed by a monstrous shriek. The panic was unbearable; I took off into the woods. The splashing sound barely reached my ears as I ran through the small stream. My soaked feet carried me further into the forest. A few minutes had passed before I came face first with the dry forest floor. I'd barely had a chance to throw my hands out in front of me, avoiding any collateral for my face.

It felt like hours had passed, but it must have only been minutes, half an hour at most. No shrieks or whirring noises or clicking noises could be heard over the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. My fingers brushed against the dirt absentmindedly.

"Elizabeth!" Dozens of voices could be heard. At first they were faint but the longer it went on the louder they got.

"Elizabeth." A voice whispered, when they touched my back. I barely looked away from my fingers, as they drew pattern after pattern. The owner of the voice gently rolled me onto my back before picking me up, one arm tucked safely around my back and the other under my knees, cradling me to their chest. My eyes travelled up and rested upon the face of my savior. His dark brown eyes bore into mine, as we began traveling in what I presumed was the direction of the homestead. My small hand reached up and grabbed the front of his shirt. I tucked my head between his shoulder and neck.

"Newt, what makes that horrible noise?" I whimpered pathetically, clutching his shirt tighter. His chest rose and fell, letting a sigh roll off his lips.

"They're called Grievers." He paused, getting his thoughts together. "They live in the maze, and only come out at night. Only a few people have encountered them and survived." All I could do was dazedly nod my head. "I'll take you to the window so you can see them the grievers for yourself."

Newt had changed his direction of travel and made his way over to a small hut that was right against one of the maze walls. We made it inside, where he set me down before wrapping his arm around my shoulders and guiding me to the maze wall, where an off-white sheet hung hiding something. Newt pulled it away to reveal a window that showed the inside of the maze. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for, but I never took my eyes off the glass.

Newt and I had been standing at the window for forty five minutes when a light could be seen. Soon after came the humming and clicking noises. What came next scarred me for life. The gruesome beast came around the corner, its globular body had a light sheen making it seem slimy and repulsive. Black spikes protruded from its body, along with shears and rods. When it noticed us, a shriek ripped from its throat, as it charged toward us. The window shuddered but never broke as it repeatedly smashed its face against it. His teeth, jagged and yellow, chomped at us as it tried to reach us. Black beady eyes starred me dead in the eyes at it continued attacking. I couldn't bear it anymore; I turned into Newt's hold, and pressed my face into his shoulder.

Newt guided me back to my room. We didn't say a word to one another as we quietly walked towards the homestead. I looked up at him every once in a while only to see that he was staring straight ahead never faltering in his gaze. I wrung my hands in front of me as we walked into the homestead. He motioned for me to walk up first before following me up to my room. I pushed the door open and walked straight to my bed, laying on it, curling up into a ball.

"Goodnight Elizabeth." He pulled my blanket up over my body, and patted my shoulder, before turning around and making his way towards my door.

"Newt?"

He turned around, "yes?"

"I'm scared." I simply stated a few stray tears slipped down my cheeks. His eyes softened at the sight of me, "can you stay with me tonight?"

"Bloody hell." He mumbled under his breath, I watched him run a hand through his hair. He shook his head before walking over to my bed, sitting on the edge. I scooted closer to the wall, giving enough space to lie down next to me. He just gazed down at me as I did so.

"Are you just going to sit there all night?" Newt blinked down at me and gave me a small smile before lying down beside me, turning over to face me. None of our body parts touched the others, Newt made sure of that when he laid on top of the blanket. I assumed he was trying to be a gentleman and protect my honour, which was fine by me. A blush crept up my neck and settled on my cheeks as I thought about it. Tentatively, I reached out across the small bed, and grasped Newt's hand in my own. His eyes snapped down to our linked hands before looking back at me with big, round eyes. That was the first time I'd initiated in touching between us. A shy smile touched my lips, as I looked down at our intertwined hands.


	3. The Blossoming

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the support! So I'm sure everyone is imagining Elizabeth differently, but here's who I pictured, Holland Roden! Honestly, I think she's probably the most beautiful human being, so that's why I chose her, but obviously you don't have to if you don't want to! There's a SURPRISE thrown in there for all of yas! I hope you all enjoyed chapter two and now onto chapter three! I do not own anything that is Maze Runner, but I do own the lovely Elizabeth! (:**

 **Embers to Ashes – Haha the fluff is most definitely real! Thanks for the support!**

 **Guest – Thanks! I'm glad you like it!**

Newt and I hadn't spoken of the night he'd spent with me. I had woken up the next day to a cold, empty spot next to me in bed. It didn't bother me; it would have looked odd if the other boys had seen him leave my room that morning anyway. A couple of days had passed now, and it had left my mind, now I was thinking about what I would do today as a Med-Jack, it was my last job before the gathering. Yesterday I'd worked with Frypan in the kitchen and to say it was a disaster would be an understatement. By lunch time I'd been kicked out of the kitchen and sent to the gardens to help Zart.

Standing in line, I bit my lip worried, would Fry still be angry with me about the previous day? Only one way to find out; I walked up to the table and grabbed a plate. I shyly met Frypan's eyes, only to get a playful wink, and a scoop of eggs on my plate. With my eggs and apple in hand, I made my way over to our usual table, and sat down waiting for the boys to join me.

"Good morning Ezzie!" Minho cheered happily, as he slid on the bench next to me smiling brightly. He threw his arm around me, "How is our favourite Greenie?" Minho and I had become close. Other than Newt he was the only boy that I felt truly comfortable around and enjoyed his company.

"Good morning Minho." My lips stretched into a gentle smile. "I'm alright, how are you?"

"In your time here have you thought about being a runner?" I looked over at him surprised, what brought this on? Why would he ask that? I thought I wasn't allowed to be a runner, Alby hadn't brought it up.

I stuttered, "I… uh… well… I-I never really thought about being a Runner." I scratched the back of my head, turning back to my breakfast taking a bite of eggs.

"You're not stepping one bloody foot into that maze." The voice was cold, and sounded angry. Surprised, I looked up, and blinked a few times. Newt looked livid. The blond boy sat down across from me.

"Ah come on Newt! She's got the chops and you know it." Newt never broke eye contact. "Do you not remember her running when she first got here?" Looking down at my plate, I avoided Newt's gaze. The boys argued for a while longer about whether or not I should be a runner. The anger boiled inside me the longer they argued; couldn't I make decisions for myself?

"STOP!" All boys stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me. "I can decide for myself. Minho, thank you for having so much faith in my ability to be a runner, but if I wanted to be one I'd talk to Alby about it." Newt had a smug grin on his face. "And you!" I stood, slamming my left hand on the table while raising my right hand to point at Newt. "If I decide to become a runner then so be it! You don't get to decide what's best for me; I get to decide what's best for me!" In a huff, I stomped away from the dinner hall, and made my way towards the Med-Jack hut to find Clint and Jeff.

My day spent with Clint and Jeff had been most productive. Not many people had gotten hurt; maybe four or five; most people we'd patched up were slicers. Which isn't much of a shock. For the most part of the day, I'd organized the medical supplies out of boredom.

"You can go, dinner will be soon." Surprised, I looked up at Clint from my sitting position and smiled.

"Cool, thanks." I dusted myself off, before leaving the room. Most people were still busy working and the runners hadn't come back yet, but I knew they would be coming back soon, so I opted to go sit by the doors and wait for Minho to come back.

Ten minutes. It's a short amount of time, regularly. When you're waiting for your friend to come back it feels like an eternity. When Minho came through I'd barely looked up, playing with grass blades, until a shadow fell over me. Craning my head back I smiled up at the older boy, and smiled. Minho helped me up, "Hey there Ezzie. This here is my partner Ben." He pointed over to the tall blonde boy standing next to him. Way to make a girl feel short I tell ya.

"Hey there." He winked and gave me this really, and I mean REALLY, dazzling smile. My face was probably as red as a tomato at that point and I couldn't form a single word in my embarrassment. Minho threw his arm around me, letting out a booming laugh as he dragged me off, Ben following us. We walked for a few minutes before Minho and Ben had to leave me so they could go draw their map of the day.

Waving goodbye to Minho and Ben, I made my way to the dinner hall, and stood in line, with Jeff. Jeff is different from the other boys in the glade, he didn't talk too much, much like Zart, but unlike Zart he didn't smell, and he didn't call me anything other than Elizabeth which was wonderful if you ask me. Today, Jeff earned himself the title of favourite glader.

"What did you think of your day as a Med-Jack?" Jeff had asked the moment I'd joined him in the lineup.

"I think it was my favourite day by far." A large grin broke out on my face as I beamed up at Jeff. Idle chitchat filled the rest of our time as we waited in line.

Jeff, Clint and I had been sitting and chatting quietly amongst ourselves when someone came and sat in the empty spot next to me at our table. Curious, I looked over and noticed Ben had sat down next to me, which shocked me. After my initial shocked, Ben and I engaged in light conversation, which mostly consisted of talking about what we did today.

Surprisingly enough, Ben and I had hit it off and decided to walk around the glade after supper. Ben had been sweet enough to take my plate for me, which was refreshing. We'd been walking around for an hour or so, before Ben walked me back to the homestead.

Stopping in front of my door, I turned to Ben and smiled up at him. The blond boy finished the joke he'd been making, before I'd burst out laughing, my nose scrunched up. When our laughter died down, Ben bid me good night before walking off to find his cot, amongst the many others.

Thomas had been sitting at his desk for the last few hours, monitoring the brain activity of the "gladers" in group A. There was one he went back to more often than others, the girl's. He'd been watching her since her first day in the maze, worried for her wellbeing and safety. He knew what lurked in the dark of the maze, and had an idea of what thoughts ran through most of the boys minds, and he didn't like it one bit.

Thomas reached up and swiped his finger across the glass in front of him, shrinking the girl's brain map in the left hand corner, and pulling one of the beetle blades screen up. This beetle blade followed the young girl around the glade without fail. He watched as he light brown, shined in the sun, showing a hint of red in her long curly hair. Her wide eyes filled with joy as she smiled up at the blond boy standing before her. A full set of pearl white teeth, full rose lips, beautiful hazel eyes framed by dark, full lashes, light in complexion, standing at no more than five foot three, this girl was the epitome of beautiful, yet she did not seem to realize this.

The young boy couldn't hear what the two were talking about, but could tell it was funny from the way her small nose scrunched up on her face, and her smile brightened. That was a smile he hadn't seen in a long time. Something caught his attention. Thomas lifted his head up and looked across the room to see Theresa was trying to catch his attention. He raised an eyebrow and noticed she was shaking her head, mouthing something along the lines of 'stop torturing yourself'. Thomas gave a barely noticeable nod, before looking back at his screen. With one last look at the fifteen year old girl standing in the glade, he closed out of the beetle blade's view, catching a last glimpse of his twin sister.

Judgement was first thing this morning, before the runners had a chance to leave, and guess who claimed me? That's right, as of today I am officially a Med-Jack. I'd been sitting at breakfast with Jeff when Clint came running, grinning from ear to ear, when he told me the news. Excited, I'd jumped out of my seat, throwing my arms around Clint excitedly.

The day had been fairly quiet, only a few slicers had to be bandaged up, and one of the builders had come down with something, which we'd all assumed was the flu. Most of my day was otherwise spent anticipating supper so I could see Newt and tell him about my first day as a Med-Jack. Newt and I hadn't seen one another since I'd gotten mad at him the previous day at breakfast; yet, he was still the person I wanted to tell all about my day.

A small smile sat on my lips as I thought about seeing Newt. I looked around when I walked out of the Med-Jack hut, and spotted him in the gardens. Excitedly, I jogged over to him, and plopped myself down on the ground next to him. He looked over at me squinting a bit, before giving me a light smile. A huge grin broke out on my face.

"Hi!" The excitement was evident in my tone. I'd barely given him a chance to reply, before I told him all about my day's events not caring about insignificant some of them were. Newt simply smiled, and listened to me go on about how great working with Jeff and Clint had been. His smile seemed a bit forced when I talked about Clint, but I chalked it up to my imagination running wild.

"How was your day?" I stared at him wide eyed, expecting a fully detailed report just like I had given him. With a nod of encouragement, Newt told me about his day in the gardens. Not once did I interrupt him.

I'd been in the glade for a month now, and a new boy, to my dismay, had come up in the box. The boy must have been about fifteen, and had klunked his pants, literally, when he'd found out he was stuck here.

My day was spent bandaging up slicer after slicer. They were getting things ready for tonight's festivities, and in their haste kept hurting themselves. So instead of staying in the Med-Jack hut, I had brought my things over to the slicers, and spent my day patching up the boys and playing with Bark when I wasn't busy.

Bark followed me, as I made my way back to the Med-Jack hut, to drop off the few supplies that had been left unused. The doors would close in a few minutes, and all the runners had come back from their run of the day, which meant Minho would be by soon to get her for the evening's events.

Five minutes had gone by when Minho rolled around. He wasn't too thrilled that Bark was still with me, but said nothing on the fact that the dog followed me around. When we arrived at the usual spot one of the other keepers handed Minho a lit torch, so he could join in on the lighting of the fire. I stood back with some of the other boys, and watched I around and noticed food was being served, along with the nasty substance Newt had gotten me to try that first night.

The smell of food made my stomach rumble. My feet, on their own accord, carried me over to where Frypan was standing, smiling. My stomach grumbled louder as the smell of food wafted up to my nose, making me blush in embarrassment.

"I think my stomach is trying to tell me something." I smiled sheepishly at Frypan, holding out my bowl. The dark skinned boy let out a belly laugh before filling my bowl up with stew and giving me a few slices of bacon. Thanking him, I walked off and looked around for an empty spot. Being so preoccupied with finding a spot, I didn't notice when someone came and stood next to me.

"Hello there!" Surprised, I whipped around and looked up at the person who'd frightened me.

"Ben!" I smiled, "You scared me!" I playfully punched his arm.

"Come sit with us." He said while pointing at a small group of boys, which included Winston and Gally. I always had a hard time saying no to Ben so I simply nodded and motioned for him to lead the way. Gally and I hadn't been on the best of terms, well I didn't mind him; he just didn't seem to trust me, which probably had to do with the fact that I was the only girl in a large group of boys. Honestly, I'd be suspicious of me too.

When we'd reached the small group, Winston had scooted over on the log, to give Ben and I enough space to sit down. We'd received a few greetings before everyone returned to their previous conversations and food. By now Bark had long since disappeared in the crowd and so had Minho.

I'd barely finished eating when Ben and Winston pulled me up to bring me over to where Gally was standing. By now most boys had gathered around and were chanting. Confused I looked over at Ben.

"What's going on?" Ben simply smiled down at me, before stepping into the circle. He looked back at me, sending me a wink before getting into some sort of wrestling position. Soon the boys were all cheering Ben and Gally on as the two wrestled trying to push each other out of the circle. According to Winston, Gally was undefeated, which didn't surprise me. Gally was definitely more developed than most of the boys; it made sense that he would be the reigning champion.

Ben put up a good fight but lost in the end. The blond boy, disappointed, walked back to Winston and I looking down at his feet. Smiling reassuringly, I grabbed his hand and squeezed it soothingly.

"You'll get him next time." He looked up from his feet and smiled at me. "I was impressed nonetheless." Saying this got me an even brighter smile, and an arm slung around my shoulder as he pulled me into his side. Happy laughter bubbled out of me as he pulled me along to where he'd noticed Minho standing. I watched in disgust as Minho took a long swig of the dark brown substance Gally made specifically for these events. We got closer, and Minho finally noticed us.

'Ezzie! Ben!" He jumped off the log, and bound over to us happily. I couldn't help but grin. Minho threw open his arms, and I shrugged out of Ben's hold before stepping into Minho's arms. I laughed as the boy squeezed me, obviously there was something in that drink that made the boy's brain a little fuzzy. After our embrace, Minho, Ben and I all sat down on the log, and resumed watching the fights.

Watching Gally shove people around got old real quick, bored, I got up and went for a walk around, watching the boys laugh and smile. Quite a few had lost interest and were talking amongst themselves. Finding an empty spot a bit of a ways away from the boys I sat down, and quietly watched them interact with one another.

Not even half an hour had passed when someone came and sat next to me. I didn't need to look to know who it was. Over the month I'd spent in the glade, Newt and I had grown quite close. My little outburst was well in the past and now he was my best friend, if I had anything I need to talk about he'd be the first I'd run to. Most of our evenings were spent together, talking about how our days had gone or whatever came to mind when we were together.

"Newt?"

"Yeah?"

"When we get out, what do you think is going to happen?" I paused, licking my lips. "Do you think we'll stay together, or go our own ways?" I was met with silence.

The silence grew heavy between us as the minutes ticked by. Neither of us had broached the subject of whether we'd stick together after we got out of this shuck maze. I hadn't really wanted to think about leaving Newt, but I knew that when I got out I'd go looking for my family, if I had one; they were probably worried about me. Newt would most likely want to do the same and from what I could remember, not that I really understood it, we weren't from the same place, his accent was much different than most of the boys and I's.

"I don't know. We don't really know what's out there."

"Humour me, what would be the first thing you'd do?" I finally looked over at him to see he'd already been looking at me. Our eyes met.

"I think I'd want to find my family, if I still have one." Nodding, I dropped my gaze and looked down at my hands resting in my lap. Disappointment. That was the first feeling I felt when he said those words, which didn't make sense to me. Why would I be disappointed? He had every right to want to look for his family, just like I wanted. Lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice he'd grabbed one of my hands until I felt his other hand reach up and tilting my chin up to look at him. By this point Newt was crouching in front of me holding my hand while cupping my cheek.

"I won't leave you." He firmly stated. "We'll go look for our families together. That way we'll have one another no matter what."

My heart swelled in my chest as he said this. The corners of my lips quirked up at his words, my left hand extended up to rest atop of his, as he held my face. A single tear felt from my eye, trailing down my right cheek. Newt let go of my hand to wipe the tear away. His thumb brushed against my cheek softly, before softly brushing against my parted lips, as if in a trance.

"Newt! Ezzie!" The two of us froze when we heard Minho yell our names. "It's time to turn in!" To my relief, Minho didn't seem to notice and walked away before we'd even had a chance to respond.


End file.
